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Just what the world needs.
Another marketer.
Another agency.
Another framework.
Another promise to “cut through the noise” by adding a little more of it.
If that made you sigh instead of scroll, good.
It means you’re paying attention.
Because the world doesn’t need more marketing.
It needs better judgment.
The Era of Spectacle
Every year, brands spend millions for thirty seconds of attention.
Super Bowl commercials are the clearest example.
Over seven million dollars just to air the spot.
Millions more to produce it.
Some ads are brilliant.
Some become cultural moments.
Many are forgotten before halftime.
And on Monday morning, most businesses wake up needing the same things they needed before kickoff:
- Consistent demand
- Clear positioning
- Customers who actually return
Spectacle is impressive.
Sustainability is quieter.
The problem isn’t that big brands spend money.
It’s that smaller businesses are often told to think like them but without their budgets, teams, or margin for error.
Big Agencies, Real Gaps
Large agencies do exceptional work.
They’re also built for scale:
- Rotating teams
- Layered approvals
- Campaign-based incentives
That model works when your brand is already everywhere.
Most businesses aren’t there.
They don’t need a launch every six months.
They don’t need a rebrand every year.
They don’t need a strategy deck that expires before it’s implemented.
They need continuity.
They need someone watching the system between the big moments.
Because growth rarely breaks from lack of creativity.
It breaks from neglect.
Creativity Isn’t the Problem
Creativity isn’t dying.
It’s being overproduced.
We’ve never had more content, more ads, more platforms, more tools.
We’ve also never had less patience.
The issue isn’t creative ability.
It’s that creativity is being asked to compensate for weak fundamentals:
- Unclear positioning
- Inconsistent messaging
- No long-term plan
Great creative without structure doesn’t scale.
It just gets louder.
Then AI Entered the Chat
AI didn’t break marketing.
It exposed it.
When everything can be generated instantly, taste matters again.
When output is infinite, discernment becomes the advantage.
AI can write the ad.
It can’t decide why the ad exists.
AI can produce content.
It can’t decide what’s worth saying or when to stay quiet.
The brands struggling right now aren’t behind on tools.
They’re behind on clarity.
The Signal Is Already There
One of the most underused tools in marketing is Google Trends.
It’s free.
It’s public.
And it quietly shows where attention is actually moving.
Compare search interest for:
- AI
- Dogs
- A polarizing figure like Donald Trump
You’re not just seeing popularity.
You’re seeing volatility, saturation, and fatigue.
Marketing lives at the intersection of culture, technology, and attention.
If you’re not watching those shifts, you’re reacting late—no matter how good the creative is.
